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Palestinian girls walk past the rubble of a destroyed building.

The recent introduction of controversial laws by Israel, including 20-year jail sentences for stone throwers and the authorisation of force-feeding Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike, would worsen an 鈥渁lready-precarious human rights situation鈥, the United Nations warned on August 19.

Tamils protest in Geneva to demand a UN investigation into Sri Lankan war crimes. Photo via Tamilnet.
Palestinians in Susiya demonstrate in May against Israel鈥檚 plans to destroy the village. Photo: Sarah Levy/Electronic Intifada. The Palestinian village of Susiya is at imminent risk of demolition. On May 5, Israel鈥檚 High Court of Justice refused to grant an interim order to freeze the demolition until the outcome of an appeal brought by villagers to prove the village鈥檚 legitimacy.
Ecuadorian chapter of the The Latin American Coordination of Rural Organisations.

More than 6000 people and 500 group have participated in public meetings on a proposed land law with the government of President Rafael Correa.

Israeli bulldozers uproot olive trees on Palestinian lands to make way for a separation wall in Beit Jala. Palestinian farmers have called for international solidarity against ongoing Israeli destruction of their olive groves and livelihoods.
Factory making high-speed trains.

The dramatic slowing of China鈥檚 economy has significant consequences for world growth. Official statistics likely overstate China鈥檚 official growth rate of 7%.

Photo: CUT. About 1 million people across Brazil protested on August 20 against right-wing attempts to impeach President Dilma Rousseff. The marches were joined by Brazil's big social movements, including the Movement of Landless Workers (MST) and the United Workers' Central (CUT), the largest trade union federation in Latin America.
Running scared. That is the only explanation for the increasingly desperate and angry denunciations from the right wing of Britain's Labour Party, as Islington North MP Jeremy Corbyn's campaign looks more and more likely to win party鈥檚 leadership election on September 12.
The Obama administration's announcement that the United States' power sector would deliver a 30% cut in emissions by 2030 was hailed by many as a breakthrough in meaningful action. US Secretary of State John Kerry suggests the 鈥淯S is setting an example to the world on climate change鈥. Reuters said, 鈥淯.S. unveils sweeping plan to slash power plant pollution鈥 and the president of the World Resources Institute declared the proposals to be a 鈥渕omentous development鈥.
Tianjin residents protest, August 20. Capitalism with Chinese characteristics is in some strife. This is largely because the government鈥檚 attempt to keep growth at an unsustainable 7% a year is fuelled by equally unsustainable debt. Corporate and local government debt has grown by 50% since 2009, and total debt, which includes household debt, is now close to 187% of GDP.
Arctic oil drilling.

Less than a month after giving the green light for Royal Dutch Shell to start oil exploration in the Arctic, the US government approved a bid from the oil giant to drill even deeper on August 17.

Since Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's new wave of attacks on North Kurdistan within the Turkish state in the wake of Turkey's June election, people of all ages have joined the effort to defend and govern themselves in the area. Since the 1990s, the Turkish state has used tactics of denial, assimilation and annihilation in the North Kurdistan. Although the promises of peace that the Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) made when it first came to power awakened hope for many, 13 years later the promises remain unfulfilled.